Pope Ends U.S. Trip With Airport Farewell From Vice President

In his first trip to New York, Pope Benedict XVI expressed shame for the child abuse scandal and encouraged young Catholics to be active in the Church. Video by Ben de la Cruz, Nancy Donaldson, Whitney Shefte/washingtonpost.comPhotos by AP

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NEW YORK, April 20 -- After thanking the United States for his "many memorable experiences of American hospitality," Pope Benedict XVI headed back to Rome on Sunday night, ending a six-day visit in which he directly confronted the clergy sex-abuse crisis and surprised many by drawing large, enthusiastic crowds.

"It has been a joy for me to witness the faith and devotion of the Catholic community here," Benedict said in a farewell ceremony at John F. Kennedy International Airport, attended by Vice President Cheney, 3,000 cheering Catholics and 250 singers and musicians.

Cheney thanked Benedict for a "memorable week" and said that the pope had "stepped into the history of our country in a very special way."

Benedict's stops in Washington and New York dramatically raised American Catholics' familiarity with -- and affection for -- their 81-year-old pontiff.

Experts said it was too early to know if it would also affect the depth of their faith or their trust in an institution rocked by sex abuse scandals. The visit made Benedict a more familiar and less authoritarian figure, they said, but the chasm between American Catholics and the pope is wide, particularly regarding subjects like same-sex unions and married priests.

"People may take a little bit more pride in being able to say, 'Yes, I'm Catholic,' but it doesn't translate into institutional commitment," said Paul F. Lakeland, director of the Center for Catholic Studies at Fairfield University and an expert on American Catholic laity. "I don't imagine we're going suddenly to see a 5 or 10 percent spike in church attendance. I think the issues are much deeper, and any solution is going to be much more long-term."

Benedict, known for a quarter-century as the tough enforcer of Vatican orthodoxy, steered away for the most part from divisive issues during his U.S. trip. He rarely mentioned abortion, homosexuality and his belief in the superiority of Catholicism over other faiths, all obvious hot-button issues. To the disappointment of opponents of the Iraq war, the pope made only a veiled reference to the conflict or his own opposition, criticizing unilateral action in addressing the United Nations.

His final day in the United States was marked by two powerful events: praying with victims of Sept. 11, 2001, inside the deep pit of Ground Zero, and celebrating a Mass at Yankee Stadium before more than 57,000 people.

Benedict's morning prayer service, in the nearly four-story-deep crater of what was the World Trade Center's North Tower, brought together two dozen people directly affected by the terrorist attacks that destroyed the towers, damaged the Pentagon and killed nearly 3,000 people.

After kneeling in prayer and lighting a Pascal candle -- typically lit at funerals and Easter, as a sign of resurrection and hope -- Benedict spoke briefly with each of the 24 people. Some wept, others hugged as the pope prayed to God to "turn to your way of love those whose hearts and minds are consumed with hatred."

Later, at Yankee Stadium, on an afternoon that went from drizzle to sunshine shortly before the Mass, Benedict called upon Catholics to proclaim "unchanging truths," including the right to life of "the unborn child."

Living religiously "means overcoming every separation between faith and life, and countering false gospels of freedom and happiness. It also means rejecting a false dichotomy between faith and public life," he said.